The art is replete with various kinds of devices for mulching leaves and other lawn material. Some of these devices, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,242,660; 3,531,923; and 4,189,904 comprise attachments for converting a conventional lawn mower into a mulcher. There also exist lawn mowers which, by their designs, are specially configured for dedicated mulching operation.
Several problems exist with respect to attachments known in the prior art for converting conventional lawn mowers to mulchers. For example, while these prior devices may be entirely suitable and highly effective in mulching leaves, the mulched material is often quite coarse in consistency, and thus tends to lie on top of the lawn and/or accumulate in piles. This may, in some cases, be unsightly and in any event the mulched material is not dispersed uniformly over the lawn and cut into sufficiently fine particles which find their way through the grass onto the soil.
Prior art mulcher attachments are also highly ineffective in cutting other types of lawn material, such as small limbs, nuts and pinecones. At best, these materials are chopped into large pieces which are left to lie on top of the lawn.
Finally, to my knowledge, none of the prior art mulcher attachments are adjustable so as to be adaptable for different lawn conditions in order to optimize their mulching efficiency.
It would therefore be desirable to provide an attachment for conventional lawn mowers which is capable of shredding or pulverizing lawn material into particles which are sufficiently fine so that it does not accumulate in piles, is evenly distributed across the lawn and can pass down through the grass into the soil. It would further be desirable to provide such an attachment which is adaptable to meet various types of lawn conditions and is capable of shredding or pulverizing small limbs, nuts, pinecones and the like. The present invention satisfies these needs.